The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1887-03-10
THE DEPENDENT BILL.
A Vermont PAYERS Opinion.
| Ruliand lEt.l HeTald. |


As the Herald has said before, this is not
money ouestiC.::, 80 much as one of justice,
public policy aud public morai;. X is the duty
and should be the pleasure of the peOP.e
through the National Government, to provide
comfortably for every dependent veteran who
became dependent without his own fault. And
il the bill is not so guarded as to prevent the
fraudulent enjoyment OF this bounty, it should
be vetoed for that reason and let new and
improved bill be enacted.
Ii is no objection to paying liberal pensions
that frequently the Government is imposed
upon, or that the bnmmers are the first to ap-
ply. or that the cost will be great. or that our
pension roll will be greater than the pay roll
OF any standing army in Europe, or that it in
creases as we gel further s:--c.. the war.
Fraud is one thing, suffering another. ii Is
better that dozen bummers should get I'M
merited aid than that one good soldier should
anguish in the pOorhouse. The total annual
cost will be less than the fortune which a
single citizen of New York has made since the
war. If it is greater than that of European
army, let it be remembered that the presence
here of these trained men has enabled this
Nation for 20 years to practically dispense with
an army. And as Tor the pension roll being
greater now than it was before many Of the
disabled had died. there is good reason for it;
the infirmities of premature age are fast creep
ing upon the veterans and disabling them for
the battle of life.
Really. the worst to be feared from the bill is
the temptation which it will lead many into. as
the Revolutionary bill did to assign their prop
erty and claim to be dependent where they are
not. The manhood and honor of our citizen
soldiery is one Of our prOudest boasts. Any
thing that will degrade this will almost seem
to lower the old flag. The Nation does not owe
them living if they can earn one themselves,
and they can save their country twice by re-
buking, with the emphasis of sacrifice. the
greed which makes grand rush for the Treas
ury and the cOmmunistic feeling which makes
the citizen dependent upon the State. 1t is
soldier who says this, and he speaks for the
soldiers.
But We have witnessed with contempt the
zeal with which young writers, who have no
recollection Of the war, but now fill scores of
editorial chairs, undertake to influence public
opinion by speaking of the proper wards of the
Nation as "paupers," and of every allusiOn to
the war as !" chestnut" and ancient history"
Talk about greed; what is it that begrudges
500 or 500 year TO help lettering hero
along the hard road of life which he was once
told would be strewn with flowers? Talk
about devotion TO the interests of the country;
until another war gives opportunity for the
highest exhibition of patriotism, how can it be
better cultivated than by the unselfish deyo-
tion 10 the comfort of those who displayed il
where faces blanchcd and brothers fell and by
emulating their example Of devoting something
TO the public good7
The young men who now claim to own this
country can never appreciate what these men
risked and suffered and how much all of them
lost. They will not DO with us long, Here
aud there, perhaps, there is one who is no
longer attractive and agreeable; but for
what he was and all he dared, remember him
tO-layp